A divine demon girl sobbed at the bottom of a deep hole. Sunlight streamed in from the opening above her, but she had no means of climbing that far. The rocky walls were nearly vertical, with no ledges to grab onto.
There was no hope of rescue. The vertical shaft she had fallen into was far removed from the divine demon village, in a place so remote that there was little chance of anyone passing by. The only positive was that she hadn’t been injured, but it was unclear how much of a difference that made in her situation.
“Someone...” She shouldn’t have called out. There was no one around to hear her, and she ran the risk of attracting wild animals or monsters. Yet, nonetheless... “Someone, please!” She couldn’t stop herself.
“Is somebody there?”
A voice reached her from the outside, and her eyes went wide. “O-Over here! Help!” she cried out.
“Hmm... Around here?” The voice gradually drew closer, along with the sound of footsteps.
An expression of relief washed over the girl’s face, and just as she was about to call out one more time—
“Whoa!”
A figure appeared at the top of the pit, only to come tumbling down before her eyes.
“Ow...”
“A-Are you okay?!” The girl started to race over, then stopped in her tracks and gasped.
The man’s appearance was truly bizarre. He had the twisting horns of a devil growing out of his blond hair, the third eye of a tria on his forehead, the reddish skin of an ogre, and the black wings of a birdfolk extending from his back. Even for someone of mixed blood, it was absurd. The more diluted their blood, the more demons resembled humans. Bearing unique traits from so many different races was unheard of.
The man slowly turned his head, facing the girl. He had the black eyes of a divine demon. His features were surprisingly youthful—he looked young enough to be called a boy. Their gazes met in silence for a brief moment, until the mixed-blood boy’s face twisted with even greater shock than the girl’s, and he recoiled in fear.
“Whoa! A ghost?!”
“How rude!” the girl shouted, completely forgetting her surprise.